On the heels of years of politically charged discourse about the Keystone XL pipeline on both sides of the border, US president Barack Obama has rejected the energy company’s proposal. He went on to say the pipeline would not lower gas prices and it’s been steadily falling, about 77 cents over the past year. Elizabeth, said the decison proved Obama “cares more about his radical environmentalist friends than good-paying American jobs and energy security”.
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The decision brought an immediate backlash from business groups and Republicans, with GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush tweeting that “the Obama Admin’s politically motivated rejection of the Keystone XL Pipeline is a self-inflicted attack on the USA economy and jobs”.
TransCanada, which wanted to build the 1,179-mile pipeline that would transport more than 800,000 barrels of oil a day, said it is reviewing “all of its options” after the U.S. State Department denied its permit.
Indeed, Obama and dozens of his officials will burn fossil fuel all the way to the Paris climate change conference in three weeks, where the president will doubtless tout the Keystone XL decision as evidence of his environmental credentials.
Newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed disappointment in the decision, as did TransCanada, the firm behind the pipeline.
In comparison, the additional carbon produced by shipping oil from Canada through the United States via the Keystone pipeline was only 18.7 million metric tons. Swift said the administration took the time they needed. Bold Nebraska representative Jane Kleeb says the decision is an environmental win.
“If you would have told me seven years ago that the president of the United States would be killing the Keystone pipeline because of the threat it poses to our climate, I probably wouldn’t have believed it”.
“I am disappointed that the President made his final decision today”.
The president of TransCanada, Russ Girling, says, “Misplaced symbolism was chosen over merit and science”.
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He also noted the Liberal party promised during the election campaign to modernize the National Energy Board’s review process, including having upstream carbon emissions included in environmental assessments for energy projects like pipelines.
